Artistic trickery: Ars looks at indie mech game Hawken

Though it sports impressive 3D visuals, the upcoming mech game Hawken is being …

The term "indie game" tends to elicit images of retro-styled platformers or art games. And that's what makes the upcoming mech game Hawken from Adhesive Games so impressive. Though it has only been in development for 10 months and is being created by a relatively small team, early footage of Hawken shows visuals that rival that of many AAA releases. Studio cofounder Christopher Lalli spoke with Ars about the importance of a strong art direction and how to "cheat" to make a game look better.

Adhesive Games was formed less than a year ago by several former Intel employees who had previously worked together on a cancelled fantasy FPS project. After setting out on their own, the team at Adhesive initially started working on a 2D side-scroller before making the switch to a sci-fi first-person shooter. A combination of factors led the studio to go down the mech game route. Not only were they fans of the genre, but by focusing on mechs as opposed to humanoid characters, Adhesive is hoping to set itself apart form the FPS crowd. But there was also a more practical reason.

"The futuristic techy theme suits our small team better," Lalli told Ars, "allowing us to efficiently reuse and recombine assets in ways that aren't possible in other settings."

It's tricks like this that have allowed the team to make such an impressive looking creation. Hawken is being built with the Unreal Development Kit, which provides a solid technical base for the game. But, according to Lalli, the real key lies in Hawken's art direction.

"A big part of our visual impact and overall appeal is just the outstanding art direction by Khang Le," he told Ars. "He has a great eye for the big picture, and how things come together on the whole to create depth and a believable environment. With our assets, the artists essentially cut corners and 'cheat' in clever ways as much as possible. They work efficiently and don't always focus on tiny details. Props and environments are quickly thrown together using a 'kitbash' method like they used on the original Star Wars movies. Assets are reused in creative ways to produce seemingly unique objects."

Hawken

Though the game is clearly inspired heavily by other mech games such as MechWarrior and Virtual On, Lalli also cites several other, less obvious influences for the game. These include Shadow of the Colossus for "the sense of scale and cinematic feeling we hope to achieve," as well as films and anime like Blade Runner, District 9, and Ghost in the Shell, which inspired the gritty, sic-fi look. Though the game will take place in a world with a "desolate, almost post-apocalyptic feeling," story and world specifics are still being kept under wraps.

As for how it plays, the first gameplay trailer showed off quite a bit of vertical gameplay—with mechs jump around a gritty urban environment via jetpacks. But, in reality the gameplay won't be quite so fast-paced.

"The jumping is kept in check with a fuel gauge that must be carefully managed," Lalli explained. "You can't just constantly bunny hop around. Our video showed a lot of flying and jumping because it looks cool, but in actuality you need to conserve your fuel for strategic moments or you will just be a sitting duck in battle. Gameplay-wise we're trying to meld the slower, immersive realism of simulation-type mech games like MechWarrior with the fast paced action of an arcade-style shooter like Virtual On. Hopefully that can create a balance that will appeal to fans of both styles."

It may be some time before those fans get to experience Hawken, though. Lalli said that the game won't be released "until we are totally happy with what we will be delivering." And, as for what platforms the game will be out on, that too has yet to be confirmed, though it will likely be a downloadable, multiplayer-focused experience.

"We’d love to see it on PC, XBL, and PSN," Lalli told Ars, "but those details aren’t worked out yet and can’t be confirmed at this time."

And he's absolutely fucking right. Given the limited resources they have, these results are awesome.

Quote:

Lalli also cites several other, less obvious influences for the game. These include Shadow of the Colossus for "the sense of scale and cinematic feeling we hope to achieve," as well as films and anime like Blade Runner, District 9, and Ghost in the Shell, which inspired the gritty, sic-fi look.

An excellent list of inspirations if you ask me. A little more color variation in the finished product sure would be nice, though.

Anyway, I wanted to give a shout-out to Adhesive Games, as by all accounts it looks like they're actually going to succeed in bringing a solid mech game to the market, and that's something nobody has managed in at least the past 5 years if not longer. And Andrew, thanks for bringing Hawken more exposure... any luck and the gaming industry just might pull its head out of its ass and realize the mech genre isn't dead yet.

Just going to poitnt out <a href="http://www.gamebanana.com/">gamebanana</a> did a quite detailed rundown on this game ago. Their <a href="http://www.gamebanana.com/news/19975">preview</a> of the game had a little trailer analysis and some screenshots and stuff that were'nt here if you're interested.

An aside to the writers, you're welcome to use the content if you reference it to GB.

I'm a big fan of the slower, simulation style mech games that have been sadly missing lately (the last I can think of was ChromeHounds on the 360). That much mass just isn't going change corners on a dime (ala Armored Core); even if it did - it would kill the pilots inside. This looks very interesting; the idea of a limiting the jumps with a fuel gauge is great mechanic.

Being a Battletech, Mech 2 3 and 4 fanatic, I approve of this. Ive been dieing for a good modern mech game, and the recent (but not to recent) Mech 5 trailer that popped up got me and my buddies all excited, buuut it fell into obscurity. :O(

Being a Battletech, Mech 2 3 and 4 fanatic, I approve of this. Ive been dieing for a good modern mech game, and the recent (but not to recent) Mech 5 trailer that popped up got me and my buddies all excited, buuut it fell into obscurity. :O(

have you been playing the mektek updates to mechwarrior 4 mercenaries? the install process is god-awful-broken (i was only successful with the torrent method), but if you get it working the game has been updated quite a bit (widescreen support, tons of mechs including the robotech ripoffs, additional weapons, upgraded multiplayer...).

The most important thing for a mech game is to convey the feeling that you are piloting the mech rather than the feeling that you are the mech, I think this runs true for all good 'fantasy simulation' games. I'm not sure that I can articulate why this is what makes them good but I am pretty sure that I am correct in thinking it.

I really hope this can be as good as Heavy Gear 2. I spent so many hours on that game, it is such a pleasure. I hope they manage to get something as intuitive and pleasing as the HG2 mechanics. Was based on Dream Pod 9 IP, which has a very nice setting for mechas.

For the moment, it looks good. Have to see if they implement the cool stuff like Active and Passive Sensors, Stealth features, a good damage model, Laser designators and Guided mortars.

None of the trailer footage revealed thus far dispels the notion that this is merely FPS in a suit. There is nothing "mech"-like about the combat we have seen. No variety in weapons, no customization of loadouts or armor, and no locational damage. Does it even have independent turret movement? I didn't see it.

Maybe it will be a good game but it sure as hell isn't anything like Mechwarrior, which is a damn shame.

Being a Battletech, Mech 2 3 and 4 fanatic, I approve of this. Ive been dieing for a good modern mech game, and the recent (but not to recent) Mech 5 trailer that popped up got me and my buddies all excited, buuut it fell into obscurity. :O(

The last mech game i played that did not play like a scaled up FPS was mechwarrior 2 on DOS. Maybe i missed out on some on the consoles or something but i doubt it as except for the custom controller for the xbox game there is just too few buttons on a gamepad to do a mech justice.